3 Holding Up the Image Framed in Gold

"Everyone is facing troubles that you can't see."

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

"Never Give Up."

There are certain words that are spoken so many times that they've long lost their meaning. They are said so many times that barely anyone actually gets inspired by those saying, nevertheless contemplate it. Quotes that everyone knows, but no one listens to. They are known as empty quotes. Even as they say that we are special, we are truly ordinary.

As there is no one alive who cares to know about her, Yu Yan has learned to see who she was. The ability to look at herself in the view of an outsider. With that said, she can't help but push herself down as low as possible. Though there was no one willing to help her up, at least there wasn't anyone willing to help push her down. Or so she thought.

This ability, she can use to look at others as well. An unbiased look, who can guess why someone is the way they are, unjudging of their actions and faulting no one but themselves. This view that she has, is taken over by a cloud of anger. With no place to diffuse her emotions, she stored them within her even as they combusted. But what is anger except a mask to hide the disappointment of yourself?

A note was left on Yu Yan's desk, asking to meet at the school gates. 'What is it about the school gates that seem romantic to people?' Yu Yan thought to herself in annoyance, her face paralyzed in a seemingly permanent smile. 'Do they not know the traffic going on at the gates? I'd have to go there really early or really late in order to avoid it. And it will be in plain sight! Besides, wasn't it that I was supposedly going to snatch Ting Xia's man away?'

Surely Yu Yan didn't want to go, but her golden image was already established. What was another confession amongst an ocean of many? Besides, it wouldn't do well if the boy was heart broken because of this. If her parents heard about this then it would be disastrous!

Walking through the halls flooded with students and teachers, she came to a realization that the classmate who wrote the note didn't even put what time they wanted to meet!

'Well...if it's like this then it's fine if I don't show up, right?' Yu Yan thought to herself. Besides, it wasn't her fault that he forgot to put a time on the note. She rechecked the note just to make sure, and sure enough, all it said was 'meet at the school gates'. Her image....it should be sturdy enough to withstand this one blow.

A hand grabbed Yu Yan's wrist and her smile slipped a bit as she was dragged beneath the staircase. In a blink of an eye, her smile was back on her face, even more gentle than usual.

"Excuse me?" Yu Yan asked no trace of annoyance found anywhere on her face.

"You can drop your smiling face, we all know that it's fake," a cold voice told her. From her arched brows, high cheekbones and thin lips to her excruciating cold yes, it could be said that her voice suited her face very much. They were both cold to the core.

"I'm sorry?" Yu Yan kept the smile on her face, it looked as genuine as ever. It was a very different matter in her head. 'Why the heck is she here? Shouldn't she be busy with Feng Mian?'

Ting Xie sighed and went straight to the point, "are the rumors false?"

"Rumors? I didn't think you were the type of person who believes them considering that we're in the same league [1]. But if you must know, of course the rumors are false. Do you really think anyone can stand in the way of yours and Feng Mian's love?" Yu Yan asked, her heart clenching towards the end of the sentence.

"Good," was all Ting Xia said before leaving, thinking that Huang Qianru was annoying enough to deal with.

'How is it that you can act so coldly and yet be loved for who you are and yet I act so kindly and receive nothing in return? Ting Xia, I wish I were you, able to be who you want to be without a care of the consequences.'

Why does life have to be so unfair?

Hiding behind a smile that was of a girl blushing over unrequited love was a smile of sadness and despair. Behind the crystal clear eyes was the tears that would never fall. Once in a while, Yu Yan stared at the sky, pretending to admire the clouds that gathered around the sun.

Like that, Yu Yan forgot about the little note that asked to meet by the school gates. Not that it mattered anyways because it wasn't about a love confession.

[1] well known people usually have a lot of false rumors going on around them